On a recent trip to Hong Kong, he was a guest at the St. Regis Hong Kong where, as part of the hotel’s Packing in Style programme, he sat down for a chat with St. Regis’ chief sales and marketing officer Bart Buiring to talk all things travel and more.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation.

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On his acting aspirations

“Crazy Rich Asians was actually my first job as an actor, but I had dreams and aspirations when I was really young. I found an affinity with watching movies and thinking beyond what was on the screen. I felt it was something that I would love to do and I knew it would be at the right time and the right place, and that happened to be Crazy Rich Asians.”

On the “miracle” that is movie making

“The industry is put on a pedestal. The mystery of making a movie and telling a story has always been part of people’s imagination, but when you’re actually on set and have to do a take 20 times, you realise how many different talents are involved, from camera operators and producers and props.

“It really does take a village to make a movie. Any movie that gets made is a miracle because for it to be made, so many yesses have to happen [yet] just a no to end a project. It’s also never about the take you see on the screen. There could be 12 other takes and three of those are the best you’ve done in your life, but they end up being on the cutting room floor.”

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On learning his lines

“In the beginning of my career, I would Google how to remember my lines. For me, it’s understanding the words that you’re saying. That means reading the script even 20 times back to back, knowing every single moment and attaching memories to what you’re saying so that they come easily to you. It’s about repetition and hard work and sitting there and rereading and focusing.

“Sometimes you have two weeks before production where you go through the script and do roundtables, but sometimes a director like Guy Ritchie makes up the words on the day. So you have to learn these new parts of dialogue every day and you don’t know what’s going to happen as he creates it on set as you’re shooting.”

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On his dream city

“When I travel, especially now, I often spend two to three months in a particular location. Last summer was Rome. I just got back from living in Madrid for three months and it has to be up there with my favourite cities. For the first three to four weeks I was with Liv and my little girl. If I wasn’t living in Los Angeles, I would be living in Madrid. It’s a combination of liveability – cheaper than many other European cities of that level – but it’s the people who are immensely friendly and the culture is so cool. People there eat so late and make dinner reservations for 10.30pm. I don’t know how they do it.”

On travelling as a celebrity

“I am kind of lucky that I’m able to have the most amazing experiences and still have some sense of privacy. I don’t feel it’s as disruptive as people think it is. Obviously you get into a habit of choosing the furthest corner table and sitting towards the wall because you want to have your own space but, to be honest, I hear the most amazing stories when people recognise me and talk to me about how a movie touched them. I love meeting people.”

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On Hong Kong vs Singapore, London vs Paris, and New York vs Los Angeles

“I’m a London boy so London for me.

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On his favourite destinations

“Before acting I was a travel host for seven years. Africa has always been on top of my list, but travelling to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I love going back to Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo, where I was born. It’s where I feel the most connected. As soon as I step off the flight, it’s the fresh air and the jungle and the street food.”

On some memorable hotel stays

“It was when I needed an escape after finishing Crazy Rich Asians and I had made three movies, but none of them had come out, so there was this moment of calm before the storm. I wanted to treat myself to something nice. We stayed at the St. Regis in Singapore and we just connected and found that solitude at that time. The most outrageous stay was in a national park in Kenya and there were no light sources, nothing around.”

On what to pack

“Packing cubes are the best. I give them away as Christmas gifts and I have a duffel bag of them. I also travel with an extension cord and one universal adaptor so you can just plug one in. It’s so annoying when you need so many adaptors.”

On his most embarrassing on-screen moment

“On one of my trips to Hong Kong, I was doing a show for Channel News Asia about lesser known jobs that keep the city running. For one episode I had to go to Ocean Park and the zoo there, and clean out the crap from the panda and penguin enclosures. One of the producers said that the panda poop is used for tea and to make paper because it has fibres. I remember standing there with panda poop and discussing all this in front of the camera.”